The Small World Star Plaza auction was scheduled to last at least two days, but Joe Di didn’t plan to stay that long. As soon as he acquired the Yun Zhen Fern Fruit, he would leave the auction.
As for the spirit stones he carried, Joe Di was confident he had enough. Before he left, Phantom Mingzi gave him another two hundred million top-grade spirit stones, saying they were sent by Xingluo Mountain and Tianyao Valley. Le Qiongyu from Xingluo Mountain and Xin Qilun from Tianyao Valley both owed him a hundred million spirit stones each, but Joe Di hadn’t planned to collect on those debts. Since he had quoted such a high price, the others hadn’t taken it seriously, nor did they really intend to repay Joe Di the hundred million spirit stones.
Xingluo Mountain and Tianyao Valley must have heard that he killed the Third Palace Lord, Huang Chuanlun, at Axe King Hall, and were worried he’d come after them next. That’s why they proactively sent the spirit stones. Since they did, Joe Di had no intention of returning them. A hundred million spirit stones was a significant loss for a Seven-Star sect. The fact that these two sects sent the spirit stones on their own showed how afraid they were.
The auction hall was a massive venue temporarily set up at the Small World Star Plaza. Since Joe Di only wanted to buy a single Yun Zhen Fern Fruit, he naturally wouldn’t waste money on a private booth.
When Joe Di arrived at the auction, it hadn’t yet begun, but the entry tickets were almost sold out. Fortunately, he wasn’t too late and managed to buy a seat in the back row.
Joe Di waited in his seat for nearly half an hour before an elderly man stepped onto the auction stage. With his eleventh-level spiritual sense, Joe Di immediately sensed the man’s cultivation: True Transformation, fourth layer.
It seemed this auction featured some top-tier spirit herbs; otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent a True Transformation fourth-layer cultivator to preside over it.
“Originally, this auction was to be hosted by the Tianji Pavilion, but they’ve been busy lately, so I’ll be presiding. Many of you know me—I am Elder Min Young of the Five Continents Pavilion. This auction will focus on spirit herbs: aside from a few rare eighth-grade herbs, the rest are all ninth-grade. If anyone wishes to consign an item for auction midway, you may approach me directly. Enough talk—the auction begins now.”
Elder Min Young spoke briskly and, after just a few words, produced a delicate jade box and raised it. “The first item up for auction is an Essence Marrow Mushroom. Its value is well known to all—it’s the key spirit herb for refining True Marrow Pills. The starting bid for this Essence Marrow Mushroom is one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones. Each increase must be no less than five thousand top-grade spirit stones. Bidding starts now!”
“One hundred and ten thousand...”
“One hundred and twenty thousand...”
There were many bidders for the Essence Marrow Mushroom. If Joe Di didn’t already have several of these mushrooms, he’d have joined in; it was the key spirit herb for refining True Marrow Pills. True Marrow Pills were no ordinary medicine—they were ninth-grade pills used by True Transformation cultivators to heal injuries and restore true essence.
There was no Ninth Grade Pill King in the Small Central World. If there were, Joe Di estimated the price of the Essence Marrow Mushroom would have increased tenfold or more.
In the end, someone won the Essence Marrow Mushroom for two hundred and sixty thousand top-grade spirit stones.
Although everyone knew the Essence Marrow Mushroom was worth far more than two hundred thousand, it was clear that without a Ninth Grade Pill King, the value of ninth-grade spirit herbs dropped sharply.
Elder Min Young was satisfied with the two hundred and sixty thousand bid for the Essence Marrow Mushroom. He stretched out his hand again and drew a second jade box from the void, raising it. “The next item for auction is the ninth-grade spirit herb, Blood Qian Fruit...”
Joe Di simply closed his eyes to rest. He was from Small Central Star, and aside from the extremely rare herbs, he had plenty of high-grade spirit herbs himself.
Most of those attending this auction had never been to Small World Star, or they were representatives of merchant houses. Joe Di wasn’t interested in these spirit herbs, but the other bidders competed fiercely. Almost every ninth-grade spirit herb that appeared saw its price multiply several times over.
“Next up for auction is a qualification token for the True Domain Genius Battle...”
After listening to hours of spirit herb auctions, finally there was something different. Joe Di had no intention of bidding on the qualification token. Since Phantom Mingzi had asked him to represent Tianji Pavilion in the competition, that meant he was already qualified...
Wait a minute, Joe Di suddenly realized that something had gone wrong with Tianji Island. Now, it wasn’t even certain whether Phantom Mingzi still had the qualifications to represent Tianji Pavilion.
“Although this qualification token isn’t of much use to us here in the Small Central World, it’s still a good opportunity to experience the True Domain. The starting bid for this token is one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones, with each increase no less than ten thousand.”
“One hundred and ten thousand!” As soon as Joe Di realized Phantom Mingzi might not be able to secure a spot for the True Domain competition, he bid without hesitation.
For the Small Central World, the True Domain Genius Battle qualification token really wasn’t that valuable. Even the most talented cultivators from here likely wouldn’t make it into the top thousand, and only the top ten in the True Domain Genius Battle truly mattered. If you couldn’t even break into the top thousand, what use was the token?
So after Joe Di called out one hundred and ten thousand, no one else placed a bid.
Seeing the bid display remain unchanged, Elder Min Young could only sigh and say, “Since there are no further bids, I’ll—”
“One million!” A raspy voice rang out, and the large bidding screen immediately flashed with the new price.
Not only Joe Di, but everyone else was puzzled. A qualification spot for the True Domain Genius Battle from the Small Central World really wasn’t worth that much, since going there would be pointless. Just as Elder Min Young had said, having the token would at most let you see the wider world of the True Domain, nothing more.
As for the geniuses of the True Domain, would they really be short of a qualification token? This guy’s opening bid was one million—did he have more spirit stones than sense? Even if you wanted the token, you could get it for less than two hundred thousand.
“One million and ten thousand!” Joe Di didn’t hesitate to raise the bid. Since he planned to compete, it was safer to secure the qualification token.
“Two million!” The raspy voice now sounded somewhat disdainful.
“Two million and ten thousand!” Joe Di couldn’t be bothered to speak, simply writing the bid on the display screen.
At this moment, everyone in the auction hall finally understood—even two million spirit stones wouldn’t be enough to obtain this qualification token, let alone just two hundred thousand.
The auction atmosphere finally heated up. A seemingly useless qualification token was now fetching millions. Could it be that the Small Central World actually had a true genius? Or, since there were two bidders, were there two geniuses?
“Ten million!” The raspy voice, irritated by Joe Di’s repeated one-thousand increases, slammed the table and raised the bid to ten million, his tone now laced with murderous intent. "Let’s see who dares to bid again."
Even for a temporary auction, someone blatantly disregarding the rules should be reprimanded. But Joe Di noticed Elder Min Young didn’t say a word. Either Elder Min Young knew this person was no ordinary guest, or at such a makeshift auction, as long as you had spirit stones, they didn’t care how you behaved.
“Ten million and ten thousand.” Joe Di raised the bid again.
The auction hall was filled with spiritual sense restrictions; even tenth-level spiritual sense couldn’t spy on others. But these restrictions weren’t meant for Joe Di. To him, they were mere decorations—his spiritual sense easily pierced the barriers and landed on the furious cultivator.
Surprisingly, the raspy-voiced cultivator was actually a bearded youth—hard to believe at first glance. Under Joe Di’s spiritual sense, this bearded fellow was just a teenager. Judging by his perception, Joe Di was certain the young cultivator was no older than twenty, perhaps even sixteen.
And this youth’s cultivation had already reached the fifth layer of True Transformation...
Joe Di drew a sharp breath—he was certain this youth had been possessed. Could someone who’d been possessed still compete in the True Domain Genius Battle? Joe Di found it hard to believe; if possession allowed entry, then the competition’s rules were far too lax.
“No matter who you are, if you withdraw now, I’ll let bygones be bygones. But if you keep bidding, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” The bearded youth sat in a private booth, glancing outside, but had no idea who his competitor was.
After he finished speaking, the bid on the display jumped to eleven million.
Joe Di didn’t hesitate—he raised the bid to eleven million and ten thousand. It didn’t matter if the other party knew his identity; even if he did, so what? A possessed True Transformation fifth-layer cultivator was nothing to fear.
The bidding screen finally quieted down, and the bearded youth who had threatened Joe Di said nothing further. Through his spiritual sense, Joe Di could clearly see the youth sitting with eyes closed, as if he hadn’t been the one to erupt moments ago.
The cultivators in the auction hall all admired Joe Di’s boldness. While such auctions claimed to keep bidders’ identities secret, the truth was that, for the right price, any information could be leaked. After the auction ended, Joe Di’s details might well be sold to the rival bidder.
Elder Min Young remained expressionless. Only after the qualification token’s transaction was complete did he take out a jade box made of warm orange jade and announce, “Next up for auction is a ninth-grade spirit fruit—the Yun Zhen Fern Fruit...”
Joe Di’s spirits lifted—this was the item he truly wanted. Snatching the True Domain Genius Battle token earlier had just been a whim; the Yun Zhen Fern Fruit was his real goal.
“The starting bid for the Yun Zhen Fern Fruit is one million top-grade spirit stones, with each increase no less than ten thousand. Bidding starts now!”
As Elder Min Young’s voice fell, the numbers on the bidding screen began to jump rapidly.
In terms of value, the Yun Zhen Fern Fruit was higher than other ninth-grade spirit herbs, though not dozens of times higher. Yet its price kept climbing, because unlike other herbs, it could be consumed directly without needing to be refined into a pill.
For a ninth-grade spirit herb to truly show its worth, it needed to be refined into a ninth-grade spirit pill—which required a Ninth Grade Pill King.
Since there was no Ninth Grade Pill King in the Small Central World, the Yun Zhen Fern Fruit’s price naturally kept rising, as it didn’t need to be made into a pill.